KLUG Weekly Meeting Notes

INTRODUCTION TO OPENOFFICE.ORG

2006-04-11T23:33:00.000-04:00

Presented by Adam Tweddell

Find out more about OpenOffice.org:
http://www.openoffice.org

Introductory slide shows:
http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/

Adam Tweddell used a KLUG LTSP desktop PC and the KLUG
SVGA projector to take us through the introductory details
about the OpenOffice.org suite of office productivity apps.
Questions were answered as they arose during the presentation.

Adam used Impress slide shows provided by OpenOffice.org
to show us how the applications worked. He also demonstrated
functions in the applications, walking us through configuration
and operations. OpenOffice.org is Open Source free software.
The current version is OOo v2.0.2. OOo is a key offering in
the proprietary software vs. Linux battle for the desktop.

Data from each component can be shared with the other OOo
components. The integration between the applications can be
static or dynamic. Literally take a letter and a spreadsheet
and make them into a slide. Some of the new features found
in OOo applications are wonderfully innovative and unique.

OpenOffice.org Office Suite Components:

* Writer
Many feel this application is far superior to MS WinWord.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/writer.html
Intro
http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/wordprocessing.html

* Calc
Compatible with Excel in all but a few advanced uses.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/calc.html
Intro
http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/spreadsheet.html

* Impress
Easily make presentation slides with powerful points.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/impress.html
Intro
http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/presentation.html

* Math
Create equations and formulae for your documents.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/math.html

* Base
Enables you to manipulate database data seamlessly.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/base.html

* Draw
Tools to communicate with graphics and diagrams.
http://www.openoffice.org/product/draw.html
Intro
http://www.tutorialsforopenoffice.org/category_index/drawing.html

(17 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-04-11T23:03:00.000-04:00

Adam Tweddell gives an introductory lesson
in the usage of the Open Source OpenOffice.org
office suite of applications.

2006-04-11T23:01:00.000-04:00

Both of these innovators produce sweet
harmonies with unrestrained passion.
Found this on a French LUG site...

KLUG GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2006-04-04T23:33:00.000-04:00

Hosted by KLUG Chair Andrew Thompson

Andrew Thompson opened the KLUG meeting tonight with
introductions and a Linux question for the day! The
question was, "What would you like to do more of with
Linux?" The answers ranged from "Everything!" to
gaining more GIMP experience!

Anthony is still learning about his Toshiba laptop
with OpenSuSE v10.0. Andrew gave him some good ideas
and he began exploring, asking questions when needed.
Looks like he is making steady progress.
http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:SDB
http://en.opensuse.org/Documentation
http://en.opensuse.org/Frequently_Asked_Questions

Bill Kennard is working on a mobile audio jukebox
system. Cajun is an Open Source program that allows
you to turn any computer into a massive audio jukebox
for your car or home. He is in the process of building
an infra-red remote control. LIRC is a package that
allows you to decode and send infra-red signals of
many (but not all) commonly used remote controls.
Dirk Bartley, Robert G. Brown, and Andrew discussed
the project with Bill. Do programmers suspect hardware
failure before code problems? Sometimes... smirk!
http://www.cajun.nu/
http://www.lirc.org/

KLUG provides new users direction and encouragement.
Dave Frederickson returned to KLUG tonight to ask
for more help in learning Linux. He has been using
Red Hat v9.0 and going it alone, as far as Linux usage
help, for the past couple years. Dave was encouraged
to join the KLUG members mailing list and look at the
Kalamazoo Linux web site. It is a good idea to review
the mailing list archives and the Meeting Notes blog.
http://kalamazoolinux.org/
http://kalamazoolinux.org/listserv/listserv.php3
http://kalamazoolinux.blogspot.com/

This meeting is intended for those who are just
curious about Linux and Open Source software, who
need some help getting started, or want some extra
eyes to look at your advanced problem. You can also
bring in your PC or laptop to get help installing
Linux on it, at no charge. Try a Linux distribution
that boots from a CD and requires no change to your
system's current software. Make sure you arrange to
get the software you want ahead of time. Check out
http://kalamazoolinux.org/cd/ for more information.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form at least
one week prior to the meeting.

(11 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-04-04T23:04:00.000-04:00

KLUG Chairperson Andrew Thompson gives
Dave Frederickson a tour of the KLUG web site.
Sign up for the KLUG Members mailing list.

2006-04-04T23:02:00.000-04:00

Adam Tweddell looks over an IR remote design
that Bill Kennard is adding to his mobile audio
jukebox project.

BASIC WEB SITE PROGRAMMING

2006-03-28T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Bill Hollett

The Presentation in OpenOffice.org Impress format:
http://kalamazoolinux.org/presentations/history.php?year=2006
http://kalamazoolinux.org/presentations/basic_website_programming.sxi

Bill Hollett is a professional PHP web developer and the new KLUG
webmaster. He used a laptop running OpenSuSE v10.x and the Impress
application in OpenOffice.org with the KLUG SVGA projector to take
us through 47 slides detailing the AMP (Apache, MySQL, & PHP) web
development basics. Bill does not limit his programming to MySQL for
his interactive web-based applications.

What is PHP? PHP is a widely-used general-purpose scripting language
that is especially suited for Web development and can be embedded
into HTML. http://www.php.net/

If I use an If statement will my program think? What's a For Loop for?
What happens while a While Loop runs? How do Functions function?
Can anyone explain an array? What's a henway? Bill covered these and
more at our first in a series on basic web site programming. Bill used
humor to keep everyone awake and he was obviously enjoying sharing
how wonderful PHP is to work with. That grin was ear to ear. Great to
hear from someone who really enjoys their work tools. A henway? OK!

PHP programming basics covered in this session:
Format of PHP Code
Variables
If Statements
Nesting
Arrays
Functions
Parameters
Function Parameters
While Loops
While Ooops
For Loops
Loopy Loops

Look for Bill’s next PHP programming presentation in May. If
you missed the first session, catch up and get ready for more
web site development and PHP fun. Maybe Bill will go over the
henway again.

(21 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-03-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

Bill Hollett, PHP Web Developer
and the new KLUG Webmaster,
Presenting Basic PHP Web Site
Programming.

2006-03-28T23:02:00.000-05:00

What is PHP? PHP is a widely-used
general-purpose scripting language
that is especially suited for Web
development and can be embedded
into HTML.

CENTRALIZED LOGGING

2006-03-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Adam Williams

The PDF file of this presentation is at this URL:
http://www.whitemiceconsulting.com/node/103

Adam Williams used his Toshiba laptop running OpenSuSE
v10.x and the SVGA projector to display 26 slides prepared
with OpenOffice.org Impress about cross-platform network
system level logging. He was wearing a t-shirt that declared
that "open source is addictive." The often apparent smile on
Adam’s face indicates that this is a very positive addiction.

Adam’s presentation covered setting up syslog and syslog-ng
clients to record to a centralized syslog-ng log server. The
pipe function is used to deliver the data to the destination.
This can log the activity of both Windows and Linux systems.
On the central server the logs can be recorded to basically
any store, but in this case the example will be a PostgreSQL
database. Storing your logs into an SQL database provides a
great deal of functionality in regards to analysis and system
reporting.

DbVisualizer is a cross-platform database visualization and
management tool. This is the program that Adam uses to view
the syslog data after conversion by the SQL creating script.
Just point and click to browse the SQL data from syslog -ng.

More about syslog –ng:
http://www.balabit.com/products/syslog-ng/

More about DbVisualizer:
http://www.minq.se/products/dbvis/

More:
Centralized Logging
http://linuxlabs.biz/articles/syslog.htm

winlogd –
Windows syslog client that sends Event Log to syslog server
http://edoceo.com/products/winlogd.php

(17 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-03-21T23:04:00.000-05:00

Adam Williams explains how traditional Linux
logging works in this slide. 1 of 26 OpenOffice.org
Impress slides Adam prepared.

2006-03-21T23:02:00.000-05:00

Adam Williams describes centralized logging
using syslog -ng piped network data which
he converts to an SQL format for reporting.

INTRODUCTION TO LINUX: SESSION #2 FIREFOX

2006-03-14T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Adam Tweddell

More information on the Firefox Web Browser from Mozilla:
http://www.mozilla.com/firefox/

A Better Web Experience! Firefox 1.5 has an intuitive
interface and blocks viruses, spyware, and popup ads. It
delivers Web pages faster than ever. And it’s easy to install
and import your favorites. Packed with useful features like
tabbed browsing, Live Bookmarks, and an integrated Search
bar, Firefox will change the way you experience the Web,
for the better.

Adam Tweddell used a PC with Ubuntu v5.10 installed and
the KLUG SVGA projector to deliver a live tour of the Open
Source Mozilla Firefox web browser on the Linux desktop.
Adam went through the Firefox menu options, answered many
questions on-the-fly, and explained each application
configuration consideration found in preferences..

He talked about browser plugin software and extensions.
PDF viewer, Sage RSS reader, Flash Player, QuickTime,
RealPlayer , Mplayer, etc. Enhance your compatibility!
Find out the details about plugin management with Firefox.
http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/faqs/firefox-linux.html

OK! So you have Ubuntu installed and everything is configured!
You know how to use your web browser. What is next? E-Mail!
Next month look for Mozilla Thunderbird to be demonstrated.
In the months ahead there is a rumor that OpenOffice.org apps
will be featured. Desktop, web browser, e-mail, word processor,
spreadsheet, and presentation software. That should cover most
people for daily usage.

* * * NOTE: * * *
Please let the KLUG Chair Andrew Thompson, Meeting Director
Adam Williams, or Education Director Adam Tweddell know if
you are enjoying these educational meetings. Get the word out to
beginning Linux folks that KLUG offers support and education
just for them every month. Feedback would be helpful.

(17 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-03-14T23:04:00.000-05:00

A Better Web Experience, Firefox 1.5 has
an intuitive interface. Packed with Useful
Features Like Tabbed Browsing, Live
Bookmarks, and an Integrated Search Bar,
Firefox Will Change the Way You Experience
the Web, For the Better.

2006-03-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

Mozilla Firefox Web Browser is Open Source
Software and the Preferred Default Browser on
both the MS Windows and Linux Desktop.

KLUG GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2006-03-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hosted by KLUG Chair Andrew Thompson

Andrew Thompson opened the meeting tonight with
a welcome! Being both the KLUG Chair and KLUG
Installmaster, he was a very popular fellow! The
question of the night was which Linux distribution
we liked! Fedora Core 4 and OpenSuSE were most
popular. Plenty going on tonight, eight projects!

Eric Beversluis was setting up a Fedora Core 4
box to use for web development using Apache with
PHP. Looked like all was going well with the install.

Adam Williams worked with Brock and Leola who
upgraded the 64-bit Compaq laptop from OpenSuSE v9.2
to v10.0. Adam showed them how the remote monitor
feature works. They even had success with the printing
configuration.

Andrew Gahan was either installing OpenSuSE v10.0 or
Debian (Sarge – stable) on a neon lit gamer box to
function as some type of server.

Anthony was working on his Toshiba laptop with
OpenSuSE v10.0. Andrew, Dirk, and Adam Tweddell
helped him find the needed files and with the YAST
configuration. He was successful!

Dan had his HP laptop with Fedora Core 4 installed.
He needed this for his class at KVCC. Andrew used
a Ubuntu v5.1 CD to correct the partitions and get
him working. Dan was delighted. Hope he passes
the word around the classroom that KLUG is great.

Bill Lindeman was getting help with his Toshiba laptop
that was running OpenSuSE v10.0. Andrew and others
configured the system to play DVD movies. Bob showed
him how to use a digital camera on a Linux box. The
camera shows up as a device and you open the folder.

Mark Jones was helping Jason with an Asterisk VOIP
demonstration configuration. They were busy pouring
through the documentation. Sounded like the writer
had a sense of humor. They had phones and laptops
and hubs and cables spread over the side tables.

Joe Roman got a late start but jumped with an IBM box
that he was putting Fedora Core 4 on. He had a laptop
set up beside him to help in the process. He was getting
advice from everyone and was making progress with the
BIOS and other issues.

This meeting is intended for those who are just
curious about Linux and Open Source software, who
need some help getting started, or want some extra
eyes to look at your advanced problem. You can also
bring in your PC or laptop to get help installing
Linux on it, at no charge. Try a Linux distribution
that boots from a CD and requires no change to your
system's current software. Make sure you arrange to
get the software you want ahead of time. Check out
http://kalamazoolinux.org/cd/ for more information.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form at least
one week prior to the meeting.

(21 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

NOTE:
********
KLUG Chair Andrew Thompson and KLUG Vice-Chair Mark Jones
previously addressed the attendees regarding a change in the KLUG
meeting format. The first Tuesday of the month is still the install &
configuration meeting. On the second Tuesday of the month there will
be a KLUG presentation on one of a variety of introductory Linux
subjects. The third Tuesday of the month will feature intermediate
level presentation content. YUP! You guessed it! On the fourth Tuesday
KLUG will host an advanced topic presentation. There is a shared idea
that this meeting structure will better serve the KLUG Mission
statement, the community, and Open Source/Linux.

2006-03-07T23:02:00.000-05:00

Dan telling Joe, Dirk, and Bob about the Linux
Classes at KVCC. Dan was getting Fedora Core 4
configured on his Athlon powered HP.

2006-03-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

Eight installations or configurations were going
on tonight. Lots of help and lots of success!!!
Linux information exchanges occured all night.

TELLICO – A COLLECTION MANAGER FOR KDE 3.X

2006-02-28T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Stu Gillis Assisted by Jon Smitley

Tellico is developed and coded by Robby Stephenson
http://www.periapsis.org/tellico/
Tellico is licensed under the GNU General Public License

Stu Gillis shared his experiences with Tellico. Jon Smitley
assisted in the display of Stu’s Compaq laptop by networking
the video with his Apple Powerbook to the KLUG SVGA
projector. Stu displayed slides to give us the basic info
and then demonstrated running the program. We saw how
he uses the program and what useful features the code offers.
Stu took questions throughout the presentation and his humor
made it fun. We had a peek at his 500 DVD collection and
heard about their plan to "database the three home freezers!"

Tellico is a KDE application for organizing your collections.
It provides default templates for books, bibliographies, videos,
music, video games, coins, stamps, trading cards, comic books,
and wines. Tellico allows you to enter your collection in a
catalog database, saving many different properties like title,
author, etc. Two different views of your collection are shown.
On the left, your entries are grouped together by any field you
like, allowing you to see how many are in each group. On the
right, selected fields are shown in column format, allowing you
to sort by any field. On the bottom is a customizable HTML
view of the current entry. The entry editor is a dialog box where
you enter the data.

Importing and exporting data with Tellico was described.
Collections may be imported or exported using a variety of
formats, to allow for easy exchange or publication of data.
It can automate the process of cataloging DVD’s and CD’s.

There is a "checkout" feature that allows you to track items
that are loaned from the collection. Reminders can be set
to display in your KDE Calendar! The application is still
in development and future improvements are possible. The
code can crash... some examples were given. Restart and
continue when those crashes occur. Backing up files is easy.
Copy the .tc files frequently when updating and you will be
covered!

Stu recommends: Marcel Gagne review of Tellico!
http://www.marcelgagne.com/cwl042005.html

Tellico is very well documented, available on the web or direct
from within the program. The web-based manual is found here.
http://www.periapsis.org/tellico/doc/index.html

(19 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-02-28T23:04:00.000-05:00

Stu Gillis demonstrates how Tellico, a collection
manager for KDE 3.x, organizes many things.

TELLICO - A COLLECTION MANAGER FOR KDE 3.x

2006-02-28T23:02:00.000-05:00

A GNU PRIVACY GUARD (GPG) KEY SIGNING PARTY!

2006-02-21T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hosted by Dirk Bartley

Dirk Bartley's November 15, 2005 GPG Presentation
ftp://kalamazoolinux.org/pub/pdf/gpg.pdf

GNU Privacy Guard
http://www.gnupg.org

GnuPG Keysigning Party HOWTO
http://www.cryptnet.net/fdp/crypto/gpg-party.html

With a fingerprint list handout and a flip chart for visual
support, Dirk Bartley explained what needs to be accomplished
once you have generated your GPG encryption keys. Answering
questions until there was silence, Dirk shared his knowledge
of Open Source GNU Privacy Guard.

A weak point of public key encryption is the spreading of
the public keys. A user could bring a public key with false
user ID in circulation. If with this particular key messages
are made, the intruder can decode and read the messages. If
the intruder passes it on then still with a genuine public key
coded to the actual recipient, this attack is not noticeable.

Always set an expiration date on your keys when you create them.
If you don’t you might become haunted by ghost keys.

If you have a wrong public key you can say goodbye to the value
of your encryption. To overcome such risks there is a possibility
of signing keys. In that case you place your signature over the
key, so that you are absolutely positive that this key is valid.
This leads to the situation where the signature acknowledges that
the user ID mentioned in the key is actually the owner of that
key. With that reassurance you can start encrypting.

The PGP solution (and because of that automatically the GnuPG
solution) exists in signing codes. A public key can be signed by
other people. This signature acknowledges that the key used by
the UID (User Identification) actually belongs to the person it
claims to be. It is then up to the user of GnuPG how far the trust
in the signature goes. You can consider a key as trustworthy
when you trust the sender of the key and you know for sure that
the key really belongs to that person. Only when you can trust
the key of the signer, you can trust the signature. To be absolutely
positive that the key is correct you have to compare the finger
print over reliable channels before giving absolute trust.

gpg --search keys 2
gpg --edit-key
gpg --send-key 4
gpg --refresh-key
gpg --sign-key 3
gpg --gen-key 1
gpg --list-sigs

2006-02-21T23:02:00.000-05:00

A GPG Key Signing Party was hosted by Dirk Bartley.
He has served as KLUG Chair twice and regularly
gives presentations on advanced security topics.

GNU Privacy Guard

2006-02-21T23:01:00.000-05:00

INTRODUCTION TO LINUX: SESSION #1

2006-02-14T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Adam Tweddell

Adam Tweddell used Mark Jones’ laptop with Ubuntu installed
with the KLUG SVGA projector to deliver a live tour of the
Linux desktop. He went through practically every menu option,
answered participants questions on-the-fly, then he went beyond
the Gnome Desktop of Ubuntu tour and explained strategic system
considerations. An example of this would be the question Adam
answered about how to set up a partition so Windows and Linux
can share files on a dual-boot workstation. Just set up a FAT32
partition as both OS’s can read/write without problems. Partitions
formatted with other file systems do not play well together.
Writing data to NTFS partitions from Linux is not recommended.
He must have covered several dozen of these tips that people new
to Linux will certainly want to know.

OK! So you have Ubuntu installed and everything is configured!
Now what? You are sitting at the Gnome desktop GUI with some
block icons labeled hda1, hda5, maybe hda6 too. HUH? Adam
showed what you would do to get the desktop set up for your use.

Some topics covered:

VMware
Wine – Wine Is Not an Emulator
Various partition schemes
Windows files to/from Linux files
Mounting/unmounting drives
File System selection discussion
90% of Gnome desktop menu options
System Preferences - customization
Making desktop icons
Trash function
Add and remove applications:*
Synaptic Package Manager
* Ubuntu uses Deb Packages not RPM’s.
Configuration files
Printing and setting up a printer
Time and Date function
Search for files feature
Task bar and panel function
...Others

Applications:
OpenOffice.org *office productivity toolset
Evolution *e-mail and more
Firefox *web browser
Nautilus File Manager *file permissions
K3B *GUI CD & DVD burning utility
Mplayer *media player
...Others

How did Adam pack all this information into an hour and a half?
He did it! It looked like he did an extemporaneous delivery with
a definite outline in his head. He got some help from others along
the way when questions were asked. An outstanding delivery with
great use of the technology to illustrate Linux desktop functionality.
WOW! There was a steady clamoring for this type of presentation.
Unfortunately the presentation was only seen tonight by a few of
those who are just getting started with Linux. Cupid may have had
something to do with that.

NOTE:
********
KLUG Chair Andrew Thompson and KLUG Vice-Chair Mark Jones
addressed tonight’s attendees regarding a planned change in the KLUG
meeting format. The first Tuesday of the month would still be the
install/configuration meeting. On the second Tuesday of the month
there will be a KLUG presentation on one of a variety of introductory
Linux subjects. The third Tuesday of the month will feature intermediate
level presentation content. YUP! You guessed it! On the fourth Tuesday
KLUG will host an advanced topic presentation. If there is a fifth Tuesday
in some month... perhaps an LDAP presentation will be given in Latin.
There is a shared idea that this meeting structure will better serve the
KLUG mission statement, the community, and Open Source/Linux.

(15 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-02-14T23:05:00.000-05:00

Adam Tweddell Presenting the KLUG Education
Session: After Installation - Linux for Beginners!

2006-02-14T23:01:00.000-05:00

Once You Get Linux Installed and Configured...
Then What? Kalamazoo Linux User's Group!

KLUG GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2006-02-07T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hosted by KLUG Chair Andrew Thompson

Andrew Thompson opened the meeting tonight with
a welcome! Being both the KLUG Chair and KLUG
Installmaster, he was a very popular fellow!

Andrew Gahan brought out his Sun Microsystems
Enterprise 3000 for a viewing. See the graphics
below for more about this fun project!

Jason brought in his HP laptop to get help with
setting up his wireless connection drivers. He had
Open SuSE v10.0 installed. Andrew and both Adams
helped him find the needed files and with the YAST
configuration.

Mike brought in a PC that was not making it through
an OpenSuSE install. It was hanging up on the drive
partitioning. Stu and Andrew were able to get YAST
to format the drive and start the install.

Andrew, Jon, and Stu worked with Brock and Leola
Who had printing problems after an upgrade from
OpenSuSE v9.2 to v10.0. OpenSuSE v10.0 was being
reinstalled on another PC for testing.

This meeting is intended for those who are just
curious about Linux and Open Source software, who
need some help getting started, or want some extra
eyes to look at your advanced problem. You can also
bring in your PC or laptop to get help installing
Linux on it, at no charge. Try a Linux distribution
that boots from a CD and requires no change to your
system's current software. Make sure you arrange to
get the software you want ahead of time. Check out
http://kalamazoolinux.org/cd/ for more information.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form at least
one week prior to the meeting.

(17 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-02-07T23:05:00.000-05:00

Andrew Thompson, Brock Inglehart, and Jon
Smitley watch while an OpenSuSE v10.0 install
finishes. Yet Another System Tool (YAST) is a
flexible installation and configuration utility.

2006-02-07T23:03:00.000-05:00

Andrew Gahan with his Sun Enterprise
3000 computer he got on eBay for $10.
Ten 9 GB RAID level 1 hard drives

2006-02-07T23:01:00.000-05:00

RAM is maxed out on this Sun dual processor
board, just one of three plugged into the bus!

THE FOUR BEST THINGS FROM REDMOND

2006-01-31T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Robert G. Brown

The 800 pound gorilla can play nice when it wants – and still
make money. Microsoft supported Open Standard software.

This presentation was originally scheduled for Tuesday July 19,
The delay was caused by Bob’s visit to the hospital the
Saturday before. Was this extreme avoidance? Rumors have
circulated that perhaps Redmond-based agents got to Bob just
in time, fearing any exposure with a LUG. Another creative
mind proposed that RGB may have been cloned and we now
have a new Bob. The original Bob is being forced to document
PERL code in a dimly lit room somewhere in the Northwest.

Many people believe that our friends in Redmond, Washington
are intent on collecting money for every little thing that they
produce, and they just never share. However, we took a look at
four very useful items that have emerged from Microsoft over
the past few years. Robert covered these subjects as four short
presentations, each indicates that Microsoft knows how to create
and use open standards when they see how these methods prove
to be effective.

ODBC http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/O/ODBC.html
Short for Open DataBase Connectivity. A standard database access
method. Allows ANY database client to use ANY database server.

RTF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RTF
Rich Text Format - Device and software independent document
markup and representation.

DHCP http://www.dhcp.org/
Short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. A protocol for
assigning dynamic IP addresses to devices on a network.
Essential configuration of workstations is too common a need to
require skilled staff.

SMB http://www.samba.org/cifs/docs/what-is-smb.html
Server Message Block – File sharing, message passing, network
printing, domain authentication/control.

WHY WOULD MICROSOFT SUPPORT OPEN STANDARDS?
- A tool for entering the market: remove cost barrier
- Exploit market opportunities quickly
- Establish a de facto standard where confusion reigns
- Become the standard-setter for future growth

SUMMARY
---------------
Despite all the talk about how bad "open source" and "open
standards" are, Microsoft does not hesitate to adapt these practices
when they consider it appropriate.

Based on these efforts, Microsoft is actually fairly successful at it.

Everyone in the industry had benefited from these open projects; we
all use the products of these efforts, by choice and preference.

(19 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-01-31T23:03:00.000-05:00

Robert G. Brown Presents "The Four Best Things
from Microsoft!" ODBC - RTF - DHCP - SMB
Focus on Microsoft Supported Open Standards

2006-01-31T23:01:00.000-05:00

The 800 pound gorilla can play nice when
it wants - and still make money.

WIRELESS AUTHENTICATION - EAP & OpenRADIUS

2006-01-24T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Adam Williams

Adam has posted his presentation here:
http://www.whitemiceconsulting.com/node/97

OpenRADIUS URL’s:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~evbergen/openradius/
http://freshmeat.net/projects/openradius/

Adam Williams spelled it out with a 42 slide Impress presentation,
"Wireless Alphabet Soup." He showed what it takes to configure
an OpenRADIUS server to handle wireless network authentication.
We saw yet another useful Open Source GPL’d software solution.

This presentation covered setting up a RADIUS service to provide
support for EAP authentication via your wireless network. OpenRADIUS
can authenticate users against your LDAP DSA, CIFS Domain Controller,
or a multitude of other sources (including flat files).
RADIUS stands for Remote Authentication Dial-In User Service.

Originally used by ISP’s to control the banks of dial-up modems,
OpenRADIUS is used for wireless network authentication services.
Adam told us how it all fits together. He explained the 802.11i goals
for security. The descriptions for setting up a WPA network will get
you to the goal of a working authentication service. He showed how
to configure the various files to get the desired result.

RADIUS is the protocol used by EAP servers to authenticate EAP users;
and OpenRADIUS is an Open Source service that provides RADIUS
service from any UNIX like platform (LINUX, BSD, etc...). EAP
(Extensible Authentication Protocol) is a standard for authenticating
network clients, most commonly used for wireless devices ("Supplicants").
EAP is an 802.1x standard that allows developers to pass security
authentication data between RADIUS and the access point (AP) and
wireless client. EAP has a number of variants, including: EAP MD5,
EAP-Tunneled TLS (EAP-TTLS), Lightweight EAP (LEAP), and
Protected EAP (PEAP).

(18 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-01-24T23:03:00.000-05:00

Wireless Alphabet Soup! WAP's, WEP, EAP,
EAP-PEAP, 802.1x, 802.11i, LDAP DSA, CIFS,
MD5, TLS, etc. Adam Williams Spelled it Out!

2006-01-24T23:02:00.000-05:00

FreeRADIUS is Used for Authentication

TiVo - A VCR ON STEROIDS

2006-01-17T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Mark Jones

http://www.tivo.com

A $50 Linux box with a 200 MHz CPU and a 40 Gb hard
Drive? Mark Jones brought in his Series 2 TiVo box and
connected it to his laptop, the internet, and the KLUG
SVGA [InFocus LP335] projector.

We went through the "TiVo Central" main menu:
- Now Playing List
- Watch Live TV
- Music, Photos, and More
- Showcases & TV Guide
- Pick Programs to Record
- Messages and Settings

Mark showed us how he uses his TiVo box and how simple
it is to operate. TiVo services can be contracted in three
ways. Lifetime, yearly, and monthly. The current yearly
fee is $155. Mark demonstrated the basic functions and
described many more. The TiVo remote runs the system and
it is also programmable for other devices. Mark stressed
that you can operate this system without technical expertise.

[from the TiVo web site]
"Only TiVo® is so smart, it's simple to use. Just choose
a TiVo box and activate the TiVo service to get all the
entertainment you care about. TiVo automatically finds
and digitally records up to 300 hours of programming you
want —your favorite show, every Coppola movie, home
improvement programs, Dora cartoons, whatever you choose
—all while you're out living life. Plus, pause, rewind
and slo-mo live TV.

Offers award-winning features like Season Pass™ recordings,
WishList™ searches, and TiVo Online Scheduling to easily
record your favorite shows. Offers features that work like a
search engine to find the shows you want (by title, actor,
director, category, even keyword). Offers home entertainment
innovations that go beyond TV with features like digital music
& photos. TiVoToGo™ lets you transfer shows to your laptop
or easily burn them to DVD** Works with any TV setup so
you can take it anywhere: cable, digital cable, satellite,
even combinations." http://www.tivo.com/1.0.asp

(14 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-01-17T23:03:00.000-05:00

Andrew Thompson Introduces KLUG's TiVo
Educator Mark Jones. TiVo is a $50 Linux
Box with a 200 MHz CPU and a 40Gb Hard
Drive. (Series 2)

2006-01-17T23:02:00.000-05:00

TiVo can be VERY addicting!

2006-01-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

TiVo is like a VCR on steroids!

2006 KLUG ANNUAL MEETING

2006-01-10T23:33:00.000-05:00

Facilitated by Bruce Smith

Tasty pizza was consumed in mass quantities.

2006 KLUG Election of Officers:
Learn more about the KLUG officer election process:
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/organize/
KLUG Bylaws give more specific organizational details:
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/klug_bylaws_040306.pdf

2006 KLUG Elected Officers:
Chairperson - Andrew Thompson
Vice-Chair - Mark Jones
Treasurer - Eric Beversluis
Recording Secretary - Brian Ritz
Member at Large - Brock Inglehart

Descriptions of the KLUG officer positions:
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/officers/

KLUG granted 501(c)3 status by the IRS effective
January 1st, 2002

(19 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-01-10T23:02:00.000-05:00

2006 ANNUAL MEETING KALAMAZOO
LINUX USERS GROUP

JANUARY KLUG GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2006-01-03T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hosted by Vice-Chair Bruce Smith

This meeting is intended for those who are just curious
about Linux and Open Source software, who need some
help getting started, or want some extra eyes to look at
your advanced problem. You can also bring your computer
in order to have Linux installed on it, at no charge; or
to try a Linux distribution that boots from CD and requires
no change to your system's current software. Make sure
you arrange to get the software you want ahead of time.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...

http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form one week
prior to the meeting.

(19 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2006-01-03T23:02:00.000-05:00

January 2006 General Assistance Night
KLUG Kalamazoo Linux User Group

2006-01-03T23:01:00.000-05:00

Reprinted from Wired Magazine
Issue 13.02 February 2005
[click graphic to enlarge]

APPLE’S MAC OS X UPDATE

2005-12-20T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Bruce Smith

Over 200 New Features in the Tiger Release Listed
http://www.apple.com/macosx/newfeatures/over200.html

Current Apple Release: Tiger v10.4.x
http://www.apple.com/macosx/

Chairperson John Bridleman recruited Vice-Chair Bruce Smith to
deliver the annual KLUG Apple Mac OS X Update. Bruce stepped up
and reintroduced us to a platform where hardware and software
compatibility is practically seamless. Everything just works
on Bruce’s Apple Powerbook G4 laptop.

Bruce Smith took us on a live demonstration tour of how he
navigates the Apple Mac OS X v10.4.x or Tiger GUI environment.
The tour included the look and feel of the desktop, the file
manager – Finder, application and system menus, system
preferences, Dashboard, Spotlight, development tools, X11,
OpenOffice.org v2.0, Camino, M$ Explorer – Mac, Firefox,
Thunderbird, Apple Mail, File Vault drive encryption, and
custom system configuration. Bruce answered specific questions
frequently during his presentation and graciously demonstrated
functions or features that people requested.

Bruce gave the Mac OS X v10.4.x the thumbs up! He said that
he could easily make the Mac his primary workspace. He had his
Powerbook G4 laptop dual booting Mac OS X 10.4.x and Ubuntu
Linux for the Power PC. He reported no problems with the
install of Ubuntu. You could see by his big smile that he is
very happy about all this. Many powerful tools in his hands,
and he knows what to do with them. Steve Jobs has delivered on
his promise!

The Fink project wants to bring the full world of Unix Open
Source software to Darwin and Mac OS X. They modify Unix
software so that it compiles and runs on Mac OS X.
http://fink.sourceforge.net/

When Bob asked this question 6 years ago on the KLUG mailing
list… he may have had a few replies. Today? Apple Mac users
enjoy a BSD based OS that is really functional. The Darwin
kernel is Open Source but much of Mac OS X is proprietary.

>To: klug@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [special moments in KLUG history]
>Subject: Linux on the Mac
>From: "Robert G. Brown"
>Date: Fri, 10 Sep 1999 10:33:07 -0400 (EDT)
>If you are running Linux (any flavor) on a Macintosh
>(any flavor), please send me direct (not a GROUP) reply.
> Regards,
> ---> RGB <---

(12 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-12-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

Chairperson John Bridleman Recruits
Vice-Chair Bruce Smith to Deliver the
Annual KLUG Apple Mac OS X Update

2005-12-20T23:02:00.000-05:00

Over 200 New Features in Apple's
Mac OS X v10.4.x Tiger

2005-12-20T23:00:00.000-05:00

APPLE'S MAC OS X v10.4.x TIGER

THE SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE

2005-12-13T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Todd Pillars

SWMITI Web Site:
http://www.swmiti.org/

Todd Pillars described a framework that facilitates the delivery
of affordable technology utilizing Open Source solutions and
support professionals. Bringing the customer’s process needs and
the advantages of Open Source solution implementations together.
How many people have been waiting for the Open Source community
to deliver an alternative to proprietary software? SWMITI offers
the opportunity to accomplish that for both customers and computer
professionals.

SWMITI has recently been established to foster acceptance of open
source software, particularly the Linux operating system, in
education, not-for-profit, business, and government organizations
in the Southwest Michigan area. It is the hope of this initiative
that we will become the place for educators, businesses, and
entities that seek information, education, and collaboration with
others that have a desire to increase the productivity and also the
security of their computing environment. The mission of SWMITI is
to stimulate economic development through learning, collaboration,
and implementation of open source projects.

What exactly does SWMITI do?

The short answer; we show small organizations and companies
how to do more, and better, with their computers while saving
them money.

The long answer; We help anyone interested in increasing security,
reliability, and productivity while decreasing costs associated with
technology expenditures identify legacy and proprietary modes of
operations that can, and should, be replaced by open standard
systems and applications.

Whether your organization is a school, church, small business, not
for profit entity, or government office our combined decades of
computer and networking experience will show you these 6 things.

1) We can assist you to identify and quantify technology requirements.
2) We will show you how to get your computing and networking costs
in line with your business goals.
3) We can help you to regain control of your computing resources and
make them work for you.
4) We help identify how and when proprietary methods cost you
money twice, in productivity and cold hard cash.
5) We highlight security issues and how they impact you daily.
6) We show why proprietary software vendors DO NOT have your
best interests at heart.

If you can say any one of these 6 items affects your organization,
we need to sit down and talk for an hour, at no cost or obligation
to you. We can help, all you have to do is ask, and we will show you
how!

Todd Pillars, founder of Terrabytes Data Storage Solutions and Modublox
Computer Equipment, has over 8 years of experience in Information
Technology as both CIO and CTO. His focus has been mainly in Linux
Research and Development, exploring a variety of open source software
projects and verifying OS hardware compatibility. Current projects
include organizing a laboratory setting for Educators, SMB's, and
NFP's to assess Linux deployment. Todd is a native of S.W. Michigan
and makes his home in Kalamazoo.

(20 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-12-13T23:01:00.000-05:00

Todd Pillars Describes the Southwest Michigan
Information Technology Initiative

2005-12-13T23:00:00.000-05:00

Affordable Services With Open Source Solutions

KLUG DECEMBER GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2005-12-06T23:33:00.000-05:00

Before we broke into workgroups, Todd Pillars focalized the
news about the Sony "root kit" that is installed without the
user’s knowledge when a music CD is played on a PC. This
software violation makes one vulnerable to numerous attacks.
Sony Infection – USA Today by Jefferson Graham
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usatoday/sonyclosesinonnewprogramtocleansepcs

Brett Shaske brought in a PC and asked for help with crontab.
Andrew Thompson, KLUG Installmaster and Robert G. Brown
assisted in this process.
http://www.tldp.org/LDP/intro-linux/html/sect_04_04.html

Todd Pillars was busy helping Mark Jones get Ubuntu v5.04
Intel x86 fully installed and then did some checks on SAMBA.
Mark had problems with the Ubuntu install and had tried to
Get OpenSuSE 10.x to work. Robert G. Brown was helping.
Ubuntu Kubuntu 5.04 Hoary Newbie Install Guide
http://www.mrbass.org/linux/ubuntu/install/

Jim Rix was updating his laptop, running Fedora Core 4, with
the latest and greatest rpm’s. He had a noticeable smile as
the data flowed furiously down the JasNET internet pipe and
into his laptop. http://www.redhat.com/en_us/USA/fedora/

Dirk Bartley, Adam Williams, and Bruce Smith were providing
backup problem solving and encouragement for all the workgroups.

There was a discussion about the Verizon Treo and what it can
do. At least two people had their Treo available to look at. One
was a treo 600 and the other a 650. Surf the web, send and receive
e-mail, access files, video or still enhanced camera, Bluetooth
connectivity, and the Palm OS. $40 monthly fee and $300 for
the unit. http://www.vzwshop.com/treo650

This meeting is intended for those who are just curious
about Linux and Open Source software, who need some
help getting started, or want some extra eyes to look at
your advanced problem. You can also bring your computer
in order to have Linux installed on it, at no charge; or
to try a Linux distribution that boots from CD and requires
no change to your system's current software. Make sure
you arrange to get the software you want ahead of time.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php

Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form one week
prior to the meeting.

(16 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-12-06T23:01:00.000-05:00

Discussing the big flap over Sony BMG Music
Entertainment's infected copy-protected CDs.

2005-12-06T23:00:00.000-05:00

For those who are just curious about Linux
and Open Source software, who need some
help getting started, or want some extra eyes
to look at a technical problem.

myth TV

2005-11-29T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Bruce Smith

http://www.mythtv.org/
mythTV is a GPL licensed suite of programs that allow you
to build the mythical home media convergence box on your
own using Open Source software and operating systems. There
are several personal video recorder PVR systems available.
TiVo is a well known subscription PVR appliance. There were
some comparisons made with TiVo during the presentation.

This link describes the features and function of myth TV.
To see how powerful this PVR system is, look at this URL:
http://www.mythtv.org/docs/mythtv-HOWTO-1.html#ss1.1

Bruce Smith has a very functional PVR system installed in his
home. He has a backend myth server that does the recording
and two frontend myth boxes that are connected to his TV’s.
He has an analog signal cable and a digital cable converter
box connected to two PVR150 PC cards. The frontend boxes
just plug into the home LAN and his televisions. These boxes
replace remote cable converters and function the same.

You could configure your system with a single box. There are
myth TV drivers available from NVIDIA for their graphics
cards. The video signal quality looked great.

The myth TV backend box Bruce is using has a 300 Gb hard
drive. His system gobbles up 2 Gb of hard drive space per
hour of recording. That does give him 150 hours of stored
video programming. He can add more hard drive space easily
if he needs it!

The ease of configuring the myth TV backend server was
demonstrated . Marking what shows you want to record
from a GUI menu is easy. The frontend boxes have a user
friendly GUI interface for playback too.

What operating system is Bruce using on these boxes? Fedora

The myth TV user’s mailing list is the place to find out the
functional hardware and operating system recommendations.
http://www.mythtv.org/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users/

(17 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-11-29T23:02:00.000-05:00

mythTV Offers Video Recording, Games, and
Music & Image Applications

2005-11-29T23:01:00.000-05:00

Hauppauge PVR150 Personal Video Recorder
PC Card

GPG – DEMONSTRATION OF GPG FRONTENDS

2005-11-22T23:34:00.000-05:00

Presented by Dirk Bartley!

With two SVGA projectors, a detailed outline, and the details on
four GPG e-mail encryption and authentication… Dirk Bartley
used the KLUG LTSP boxes, creating a table wide network (TWN)
for a multiple platform network, to show us how it all works.

Dirk Bartley demonstrated GPG, the Gnu Privacy Guard project.
This presentation covered the concepts and use of GPG to encrypt
attached emails as well as to prove that the email was sent from
the possessor of the appropriate private key. The objective was to
familiarize the audience with using GPG from open email clients
as well as Microsoft Outlook.

Dirk had several points he wanted to emphasize in review of the
initial GPG presentation. He clearly described the difference
and purpose of encryption and signing with signatures! He also
wanted to add a big picture usage reference.

-----------------
Why should I encrypt my mail? I'm not doing anything illegal!
You should encrypt your e-mail for the same reason that you don't
write all of your correspondence on the back of a post card. E-mail
is actually far less secure than the postal system. With the post
office, you at least put your letter inside an envelope to hide it
from casual snooping. Take a look at the header area of any e-mail
message that you receive and you will see that it has passed through
a number of nodes on its way to you. Every one of these nodes presents
the opportunity for snooping. Encryption in no way should imply illegal
activity. It is simply intended to keep personal thoughts personal.

Crime? If you are not a politician, research scientist, investor,
CEO, lawyer, celebrity, libertarian in a repressive society,
investor, or person having too much fun, and you do not send
e-mail about your private sex life, financial/political/legal/scientific
plans, or gossip then maybe you don't need PGP, but at least realize
that privacy has nothing to do with crime and is in fact what keeps
the world from falling apart. Besides, PGP is FUN.
You never had a secret decoder ring? Boo!
-Xenon (Copyright 1993, Xenon)
http://sites.inka.de/tesla/gpgrelay.html

-----------------

DEMO PERSONALITY CLIENT GPG FRONTEND
Theodore Thunder Thunderbird Enigmail
Kevin Keller Kmail KGPG
Edgar Evans Evolution GNU Privacy Assistant
Owen Outdone Outlook GPG Relay

The latest version of Enigmail is 0.93.0, working with Thunderbird 1.0.x
and Mozilla 1.7.x. Enigmail is an extension to the mail client of
Mozilla / Netscape and Mozilla Thunderbird which allows users to access
the authentication and encryption features provided by GnuPG (see
screenshots). Enigmail is open source and dually-licensed under the GNU
General Public License and the Mozilla Public License.
http://enigmail.mozdev.org/

KGPG is a simple, free, open source KDE frontend for GPG with Kmail.
http://developer.kde.org/~kgpg/

GnuPG stands for GNU Privacy Guard and is GNU's tool for secure
communication and data storage. It can be used to encrypt data and to
create digital signatures. It includes an advanced key management
facility and is compliant with the proposed OpenPGP Internet standard
as described in RFC 2440. As such, it is aimed to be compatible with
PGP from NAI, Inc.
http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/related_software/gpa/index.html

GPGrelay is, as indicated by its name a local relaying server.
It works completely transparent for your Email-Client as well as for
the remote Server. Now, if you want to send emails encrypted, GPGrelay
encrypts them and sends the encrypted mail to the SMTP-Server.
If you receive an encrypted mail, GPGrelay does the decryption for you –
so your Email-Client never sees any encrypted mails, which is quite a
nice feature when your Email-Client (like Outlook Express) is not capable
of handling those mails.
http://sites.inka.de/tesla/gpgrelay.html

(20 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-11-22T23:01:00.000-05:00

Dirk Bartley Demonstrated Four GNU Privacy
Guard E-Mail Frontends!

2005-11-22T23:00:00.000-05:00

Dirk Demonstrated GNU Privacy Guard on a
Windows XP Box and on a Linux Box too.

GPG - SECURITY AND PRIVACY (ACT 1 OF 2)

2005-11-15T23:33:00.000-05:00

Graciously Presented by Dirk Bartley!

Dirk’s Slide Presentation on GPG - Act 1: (43 slides)
ftp://kalamazoolinux.org/pub/pdf/gpg.pdf

Dirk Bartley explained GPG, the Gnu Privacy Guard project.
This is an Open Source data encryption software project.
http://www.gnupg.org

The presentation covered the concepts and use of GPG to
encrypt and digitally sign files. The objective was to
familiarize the attendees with using GPG from basic concept
to the command line interface. He started out by covering
the basics from his previous encryption related KLUG
presentations. He has already covered SSH, Kerberos, & SSL!
We heard about ciphers, keys, cryptoanalysis, and algorithims.
He answered questions throughout the presentation and worked
hard to help those that were trying to grasp the concepts.

Dirk talked about symmetric and asymmetric encryption and
decryption, data signing, asymmetric key generation, key
management, and even key parties. He discussed various
related authentication and security considerations.

The second half of Dirk’s GPG presentation (next week) will
cover the concepts and use to encrypt attached e-mails.

Open Source GNU Privacy Guard is distributed by the Free
Software Foundation. Richard Stallman founded the GNU
Project in 1984. http://www.gnu.org/

[From the GnuPG FAQ page]
GnuPG stands for GNU Privacy Guard and is GNU's tool for
secure communication and data storage. It can be used to
encrypt data and to create digital signatures. It includes
an advanced key management facility and is compliant with
the proposed OpenPGP Internet standard as described in
RFC 2440. As such, it is aimed to be compatible with PGP.
http://www.gnupg.org/(en)/documentation/faqs.html

Some people say you only need encryption if you have something
to hide. Others say that you are entitled to privacy and to be
secure in your personal computer originated communication.

For More Information About Encryption:
Privacy, Security, Crypto, & Surveillance
"EFF Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy"
http://www.eff.org/Privacy/

We had a VIP in attendance tonight. Dirk’s father, retired WMU
Communications Professor Lynn Bartley, witnessed his son’s
passion for the Linux OS, Open Source software, and teaching
his knowledge to others. Dirk served dutifully as KLUG Chair
for two terms of office.

(20 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-11-15T23:02:00.000-05:00

How E-Mail Encryption Works, Using Signed Public
Keys, is "Not Easy to Wrap Your Head Around!"

2005-11-15T23:01:00.000-05:00

Dirk Bartley Presents GNU Privacy Guard (GPG)

2005-11-15T23:00:00.000-05:00

GNU PRIVACY GUARD

XMPP - AKA JABBER - WITH JIVE

2005-11-08T23:33:00.000-05:00

Presented by Adam Tauno Williams

Adam might post his presentation notes in the near future:
http://kalamazoolinux.org/presentations

Extensible Messaging Presence Protocol (XMPP)

Setting up an instant messaging service for your company or
organization is possible with Open Source XMPP software.

Adam Tauno Williams described how to install and configure
an XMPP server. He gave us general terminology and told
us how XMPP services work. Rather than have employees
using an outside service, Jive allows communication to be
limited to internal use only and provides an admin audit trail.
No advertising., no IM exploits, no outlaw broadcasts, no
worries… if you install your own secure IM service.

Adam gave us the background of XMPP, told us about its
evolution, and described the status of development projects.
He told us about the Jabber Foundation and Jive Software.
Open Source XMPP software is really useful for near real
time organizational communication.

Having presented once before on implementing XMPP 'instant
messaging' using the Jabberd2 server, this time Adam covered the
JIVE XMPP server. JIVE is a formerly commercial XMPP server,
written in Java, that has now been released as Open Source. JIVE
provides solid performance and stability along with its easy
installation and elegant administration interface. JIVE provides
rosters, message logging, LDAP authentication, and the ability to
use any JDBC available database.
http://www.jivesoftware.org/

Jabber is best known as "the Linux of instant messaging" -- an
open, secure, ad-free alternative to consumer IM services like AIM,
ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo (see the IM quickstart). Under the hood,
Jabber is a set of streaming XML protocols and technologies that
enable any two entities on the Internet to exchange messages,
presence, and other structured information in near real time.
Jabber technologies offer several key advantages
http://www.jabber.org/

Adam’s workplace uses Exodus as their Windows IM client.
Exodus is a clean, lightweight Jabber instant messaging client for
Windows. It supports messages, chat, group chat and file transfers.
If you would like your sessions to be secure and encrypted, you can
select SSL support.
http://exodus.jabberstudio.org/

Some admins use IM for their help desk contact system. Using the
Multiple User Chat (MUC) Room feature of Jive can accomplish that.
Adam mentioned that he felt users give better problem descriptions
if they use an IM and have to think about what they write. Users
can see if the/a help desk technician is available to help them.
Adam mentioned that the receptionist can look at her list and know
if someone is present so she can put a telephone call through.

Adam answered specific questions throughout the presentation and
held a more in depth discussion of a few configuration issues at
the end of his session.

(14 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-11-08T23:03:00.000-05:00

Open Source XMPP from Jive Software!

2005-11-08T23:02:00.000-05:00

Adam Williams Describes Open Source Jive and
XMPP or Instant Message Services!

2005-11-08T23:01:00.000-05:00

Jive Software Allows the Creation of Multiple User
Chat (MUC) Rooms. Similar to Internet Relay
Chat (IRC) in Function.

KLUG NOVEMBER GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2005-11-01T23:33:00.000-05:00

Hosted by KLUG Chairperson John Bridleman

The gathering tonight blew in on the heels of hurricane
Beta but no local storm damage or injuries were reported.
After Chairperson John Bridleman opened the server room
cabinet and the November KLUG meeting, the crowd broke
into five identifiable workgroups. In the following text,
names will be named and their activities will be disclosed.
http://www.weather.com/newscenter/tropical/

Bruce Smith, John Bridleman, and Todd Pillars worked
on the three new Linksys 802.11G WAP’s. They were busy
retrieving the static IP addresses of the WAP transmitters
so they could configure the network to make them web
accessible. You can actually reboot them from your web
browser and get a status report. The older WAP’s were
retired and had been giving unsatisfactory performance.
Someone recommended against reliance on the "One Button"
security feature of the Linksys 802.11G wireless router.
http://www.linksys.com Hey Cisco, where’s Poncho?

Robert G. Brown, Mark Jones, and Eric Beversluis were
dining on carryout delicacies and could be quite clearly
overheard discussing world, national, and local politics.
I didn’t hear any talk about Kalamazoo being designated
as a future space portal launch site. Saddam, Camilla, and
a host of other popular subjects were energetically being
jousted! There was an Open Source spin on some of it.
Had they visited? http://www.nytimes.com/

Dirk Bartley and Tyler Haske were doing some support
work with a young man named Mike. The quest seemed
to involve the configuration possibilities of Xinerama.
Xinerama extensions allow applications and window
managers to use two or more physical displays as one large
virtual display. http://sourceforge.net/projects/xinerama
Dirk did a presentation about this "back in the day…"
November 14, 2000 Multiple Monitors Using XFree86
http://www.kalamazoolinux.org/presentations

Leola Walker, Brock Inglehart, Stuart Gillis, and Jon
Smitley were all bunched up near the network connect
points. I noticed four laptops connected by ethernet,
to Appletalk, back to ethernet. In this daisy chain of
high-powered mobile computing collaboration was an
802.11G Bridge? Huh? Not sure what was going on
with that device… there may have been problems with
a PCMCIA wireless network driver or some such.
Leola had the photo album from the trip she and Brock
took to Alaska on a sleek red motorcycle this summer.
http://www.motorcycleroads.us/ak.html

In the center of the room was Tom Nelson. He had a
Dell PC that was loaded with Fedora Core 4 (Red Hat).
He was displaying plenty of hex screen dumps and
was in the process of tweaking the configuration files.
He was being assisted by both Tyler Haske and Andrew
Thompson. Dirk Bartley was also giving suggestions.
It looked like Tom was hardwired into the RJ45 wall
outlet. Someone was asking about the DD command.
How and when to use the dd command?
http://www.codecoffee.com/tipsforlinux/articles/036.html

This meeting is intended for those who are just curious
about Linux and Open Source software, who need some
help getting started, or want some extra eyes to look at
your advanced problem. You can also bring your computer
in order to have Linux installed on it, at no charge; or
to try a Linux distribution that boots from CD and requires
no change to your system's current software. Make sure
you arrange to get the software you want ahead of time.
If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form one week
prior to the meeting. If you only have general questions
or curiosity you don't need to do anything but show up!

(18 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-11-01T23:03:00.000-05:00

Dirk Bartley and Tyler Haske work with Mike to
Understand and Exploit Xinerama!

2005-11-01T23:02:00.000-05:00

Bruce Smith and John Bridleman Configure the
Static IP Addresses for KLUG's Three New WAP's!
Tom Nelson Works With a Fedora Core 4 Dell.

2005 KLUG GEEK JEOPARDY

2005-10-25T23:33:00.000-04:00

Master of Ceremonies – Adam Tauno Williams
Programmer / Operations – Jon Smitley

Tonight was the night! The celebration of the 5th year of Geek Jeopardy.
Jon Smitley put Open Source tools together with the game process to
create an application with a graphical user interface for the display of
the categories, points, and answers. It even handles the game scoring.
Back in October of 2001, on Halloween, KLUG members gathered in
Dunbar Hall on the WMU campus for what was being billed then as Open
Source Jeopardy. Adam Tauno Williams’ brainchild has become a KLUG
tradition. Adam and Jon worked hard, gave their time, and delivered
a night of great entertainment. Three cheers!

The competition was fierce again this year. The challenging questions
made it even more interesting. The lead was traded between the teams
due to risk taking. It was an apparent strategy to refrain from guessing.
Tyler and Mark controlled the board for several long point runs only
to stumble on high point guesses. John and Bruce played the "just
answer the ones you know for sure" game and that worked for them. Each
team demonstrated strength in the various categories.

Those Open Source tools Jon used were the best available for serious web
development. AMP stands for the Apache web server, the MySQL database,
and the widely-used general-purpose scripting language that is especially
suited for web development and can be embedded into HTML… known as PHP!

Eight large pizzas from Pizza Hut were devoured and there was a variety
of soda in 2-liter containers consumed. After two official feeding sessions
there were plenty of pop and pizza slices left.

The night was full of frivolity and laughter. There are many inside themes
in the Open Source / Linux universe and few escaped a remark or two. It
does make one wonder why there weren't more GEEKS in attendance for this.
We could have accommodated twice as many people with food, team membership,
and fun!!!

2005 KLUG GEEK JEOPARDY TEAMS
***********************************
Team 1A - John Bridleman & Bruce Smith
Team 2B - Tyler Haske & Mark Jones
Team 3C - Andrew Thompson & John Sarma
Team 4D – Bill Hollett & Stuart Gillis <-- RETURNING CHAMPS!

SCORES AT THE END OF DOUBLE JEOPARDY
Team 1A - 224
Team 2B - 216
Team 3C - 768
Team 4D - 30

FINAL SCORES
Team 1A 225 <-- THE 2005 WINNERS! GO JOHN & BRUCE!!!
Team 2B ---

Each single jeopardy category contains an question worth
2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, and 256 points.
Each double jeopardy category contains an question worth
4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512 points.

And of course, the final Jeopardy question. This year the
category was MALWARE! Team 1A got it right and team 2B,
confident in their guess, lost it all in that moment.

SINGLE JEOPARDY
******************
PHP – Everyone’s favorite web scripting language.
Geek Cinema - All the sci-fi and fantasy movies since the Geek
Jeopardy event last year, including any movie starring Sandra Bullock.
/etc - Anything and everything you'll find in /etc
Who Said - A quote, said by who?
SQL - How you talk to the box that knows.
Lucas - All about the saga that finally ended.
802.11 - Can you hack me now?
Math Mania - You knew you should have paid attention in High School.
IPC - Inter-Process Communications, the how, the why, and the
"Why the *@^*&$^*&@! doesn't it work!"
Stellar - Looking up.

DOUBLE JEOPARDY
*******************
/lib - libcidn.so.1 is what again?
LDAP - What you thought there wasn't going to be an LDAP category?
Hard Copy - Anything and everything to do with turning bits in RAM
to spots on paper.
Linus - The Man!
Apache Mod - All about what really makes Apache rock.
XML - Say it with me... "eXtensible Markup Language". Who needs
sliced bread when you have XML?
Java - Mmmmm, coffeeee.
Nano-Tech - Really really small stuff.
.NET - What Java should have been.
Jargon File - Oh yea! Everyone's favorite category.

(17 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-10-25T23:03:00.000-04:00

Adam WIlliams Exchanges Laughs with the
Geek Jeopardy Contestants and Spectators.

2005-10-25T23:02:00.000-04:00

PIZZA!!! There were as many pizzas as there
were eager and knowledgable contestants

2005-10-25T23:01:00.000-04:00

Adam Williams was the Geek Jeopardy MC
and Jon Smitley handled the Software
Programming and Hardware Operation.

KLUG Open Discussion

2005-10-18T23:33:00.000-04:00

Hosted by Eric Beversluis

The meeting format was an unstructured discussion of
Open Source Software and Linux. The topics included
OpenOffice.org, WINE, UPS software, etc. There were
a couple of people working on some task off to the side
but they still participated in the conversations.

Great night for getting ideas of where to look for more
information and tips on various IT solutions and software.
There was a question about SSH. www.openssh.com/
is a good resource. OpenSSH 4.2 was recently released.

Adam Williams gets credit for steering the technical
discussions for the evening. There were others who
actively shared their Open Source Software and Linux
experiences. The variety of opinions were interesting.

(14 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-10-18T23:02:00.000-04:00

KLUG Open Forum

2005-10-18T23:01:00.000-04:00

Open Source Software and Linux were the topics
of conversation for the KLUG open discussion meeting.

SUBVERSION: ATTACK OF THE GUI'S

2005-10-11T23:50:00.000-04:00

Presented By Dirk Bartley

What Is Subversion? http://subversion.tigris.org/

The goal of the Subversion project is to build a version
control system that is a compelling replacement for CVS
in the open source community. The software is released
under an Apache/BSD-style open source license. CVS is
currently still the most prevalent for coders and admins.

***
Who would need to use Subversion?
Programmers working on software with others and
anyone who is working on files as a group.
***

Dirk Bartley demonstrated the use of the version
control system Subversion from the client perspective.
There are graphical subversion clients available for
both Windows and Linux (X11). The objective was to
familiarize the attendees with how to use the Tortoise
(Windows) and eSVN (Linux) graphical clients. Also to
show the similarities between using Subversion clients
whether the client is from a command line, or a graphical
user interface from any operating system.

Tortoise http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/
eSVN http://esvn.umputun.com/

There were two SVGA video projectors running, one
with Windows and Tortoise running and the other with
SuSE 9.x running eSVN. Dirk did some running back
and forth between PC’s but he was demonstrating how
similar the GUI Subversion clients are across platforms.
He demonstrated the command line parallel with the GUI.

Commands or functions like Checkout, Import, Export,
Update, Commit, Add, Delete, Copy, Move, Merge, Switch,
Revert, Log, and Blame were looked at on the eSVN GUI.

Dirk also demonstrated difference detection software on
both platforms. This software becomes a standard tool
for those working on revised code of files.

(18 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-10-11T23:01:00.000-04:00

Dirk Bartley Describes What Subversion Users Need to Know!
He demonstrated that in both Windows and Linux with a GUI.

2005-10-11T23:00:00.000-04:00

Tigris.org: Open Source Software Engineering Tools

KLUG MONTHLY GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2005-10-04T23:33:00.000-04:00

Hosted by KLUG Chairperson John Bridleman

There were no new faces to repeat the standard opening
comments and no speaker introductions were needed tonight.
John Bridleman let the meeting steer itself and that seemed
like it worked out for the best. With the thoughts of 2005
GEEK JEOPARDY repeatedly bubbling up in each conversation,
it is less than a month away and the tension is noticeable.
The Geek Jeopardy competition will be celebrated on
Tuesday October 25th at 7PM at the Chamber of Commerce.
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/schedule.php3

Back in the corner, Alan Tanner sat with a Dell PC with the
side panel removed. He had a laptop drive attached to his
PC’s drive cable with a powered adapter. He was attempting
to recover the files on this failing drive. That seemed to
go well. KLUG Installmaster Andrew Thompson was working
his magic with solid Linux support. Andrew was able to boot
from a CD-ROM on a PC that had no hard drives installed.
http://recover.sourceforge.net/linux/recover/

Tyler and a friend were in the middle of the room with a
large 24 port router sitting between them. There was a
network install with the box being prepared for dual boot
operation. The remote Debian network install looked like a
success. I did hear someone mention that there was a GRUB
error 21 Master Boot Record missing and that the guy really
needed the stuff on the Windows drive partitions. Looked
like Adam was lending a hand. So many different Linux
distributions and infinite hardware configurations make it
all a miracle. Some people appear to know there way around
any Linux OS. Install Guide for Debian Linux Distribution:
http://www.debian.org/releases/potato/i386/install

When in the back of the room to get cookies and pretzels,
one could hear a conversation between Todd Pillars and
Mark Jones generally about VOIP and the Asterisk Project.
http://www.asterisk.org/

Bill Hollett and Adam Williams were quietly discussing an
implementation of SOAP ("Simple Object Access Protocol")
over on the less crowded side of the room. A SOAP message
is fundamentally a one-way transmission between SOAP
nodes. http://www.w3.org/TR/soap12-part0/

In the center of the room was a general technology discussion
that ranged from Open Source topics to theories about the
causes and impact of the high gasoline prices. Adam Williams,
Dirk Bartley, Bruce Smith, John Bridleman, and others were
vigorously sharing thoughts and ideas.

This meeting is intended for those who are just curious
about Linux and Open Source software, who need some
help getting started, or want some extra eyes to look at
your advanced problem. You can also bring your computer
in order to have Linux installed on it, at no charge; or
to try a Linux distribution that boots from CD and requires
no change to your system's current software. Make sure
you arrange to get the software you want ahead of time.

If you would like assistance with a specific problem please
e-mail a description to installmaster@kalamazoolinux.org,
so we can be sure someone familiar with your issue will be
available to assist you.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form one week
prior to the meeting. If you only have general questions
or curiosity you don't need to do anything but show up!

(21 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-10-04T23:03:00.000-04:00

Some of the 21 Linux Enthusiasts Who Joined
Into the Open Source Fun During KLUG's
October General Assistance Night

2005-10-04T23:02:00.000-04:00

KLUG Past President Dirk Bartley Cycled
In To Personally Recognize the Partnership
Between KLUG and the Kalamazoo Chamber

2005-10-04T23:01:00.000-04:00

USB RAM sticks, memory sticks, key chain drives,
geek sticks, whatever you call them... Tyler and
Adam tried to boot off one after a short ritual.

GEEK JEOPARDY SOFTWARE TEST DRIVE A WINNER!

2005-09-27T23:33:00.000-04:00

Presented by Jon Smitley

Everything worked perfectly tonight in the
Geek Jeopardy software test drive. No bugs
were detected. It has been tested and it
is working fine! GO JON AND PROJECT CREW!!!

Almost everyone knows how the TV quiz show
Jeopardy is played. Hasn’t it been a very
successful edutainment format TV game show?

Back in October of 2001, on Halloween, KLUG
members gathered in Dunbar Hall on the WMU
campus for what was being billed then as Open
Source Jeopardy. Adam Williams used a classroom
chalkboard to list the answers and KLUG's
Brian Ritz was the scorekeeper. Adam had the
questions written on cards which were sorted by
points and categories. Adam transferred that
info to an entire wall of chalkboards. That was
a bunch of writing and the manual score keeping
was rather difficult. In following years, the
name was changed to Geek Jeopardy and Adam put
all the information into a spreadsheet application.
That sure beat all that writing.

In anticipation of celebrating the 5th year of
the annual festivities, KLUG Linkmaster (KLUGware
too) Jon Smitley put Open Source tools together
with the game process to create an application
with a graphical user interface for the display
of the categories, points, and answers. It even
handles the game scoring. Wheel of Fortune's Vanna
White was apparently unwilling to perform the
scoring duties for us. It does include an MC
display that provides the correct questions. Even
Alex Trebek could handle this application. He also
had the buzzer system working just like it was
expected to. There are Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy,
and even Final Jeopardy sessions included. Jon calls
the application "AMPardy." The Merv Griffin attorneys
vigorously protect their intellectual property
so care was taken to not be taunt copyright actions.

AMP stands for the Apache web server, the MySQL
database, and the widely-used general-purpose
scripting language that is especially suited for
web development and can be embedded into HTML…
PHP! Were any problems encountered? Only minor
ones and that is why all software is beta tested.

Jon, with some help, did an excellent job of
putting together this AMP application. You can
be sure it will be ready for Halloween 2005 and
the annual KLUG Geek Jeopardy party. There was
some uncertainty about whether or not this
application could be released as Open Source
code without running into legal problems.
We’ll find out more about that in the future.

The test topics included Geek Cinema, CPU
Architectures, YRO, Redmond, LDAP, Samba, X11,
Slang, XML, CLI, "Things that spin", and "RFC
Potpurri" that were snagged from a previous
year’s spreadsheet archive file. The software
testing session was enjoyed by a raucous crowd
of previous year Geek Jeopardyenthusiasts.

(21 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-09-27T23:04:00.000-04:00

Adam Williams was the MC for the second Geek AMPardy software testing sessions!

2005-09-27T23:02:00.000-04:00

KLUG Members were having a great time testing their knowledge playing Geek AMPardy.

2005-09-27T23:01:00.000-04:00

A KLUG Geek AMPardy Returning Champion Was in the Audience Checking Out the 2005 Challengers.

VERSION CONTROL REVISITED: CVS & SVN

2005-09-20T23:23:00.000-04:00

Presented by Dirk Bartley

The link to Dirk’s Versioning Systems presentation slides:
To be posted soon… http://kalamazoolinux.org/presentations/

This is an update to the presentation from 2004-05-18 by Dirk Bartley.
ftp://ftp.kalamazoolinux.org/pub/pdf/cvspresent.sxi.pdf

Dirk showed us the features and structure of Subversion. He detailed
the installation and usage. First he showed us how CVS is installed
and how all that works.

"CVS is a versatile and very useful open source tool. I advise anyone
using frequently modified text files to use cvs. A common use for cvs
is to maintain and distribute c and c++ source code. Cvs is also good
for scripting languages such as sed, awk, php, python, bash and perl.
Other possibilities are are to maintain static web pages with cvs or to
maintain computerized numerical control programs. Cvs is a client
server application with command line and graphical clients available
for linux, unix and windows. We saw that it simpler than you may
have thought to get a cvs server assisting you in maintaining your
own work."

---------

CVS - Concurrent Versions System
http://www.nongnu.org/cvs/

What the &*%$ is a Cederqvist?
"The Cederqvist" is the nickname for the CVS manual written by
Per Cederqvist et al: http://www.network-theory.co.uk/cvs/manual/
Wikied Manual: http://ximbiot.com/cvs/manual/

---------

Subversion 1.2.3 is now available.
http://subversion.tigris.org/

What Is Subversion?
The goal of the Subversion project is to build a version control system
that is a compelling replacement for CVS in the open source community.
The software is released under an Apache/BSD-style open source license.

---------

To track incremental changes to files Dirk uses xxdiff graphical difference
software. http://xxdiff.sourceforge.net/

Dirk told us about conversions, using a python script, from a CVS
repository. http://cvs2svn.tigris.org/cvs2svn.html

More on CVS file conversions: http://www.softinterface.com

Somebody recommended that a good Geek Jeopardy question would be,
"What is the difference between an export and a checkout in Subversion?"

(16 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-09-20T23:01:00.000-04:00

Dirk Bartley Detailing the Differences Between Open Source CVS and Subversion

2005-09-20T23:00:00.000-04:00

Dirk Bartley's Opening Slide on Versioning Software

OPEN REPORTS: THE OPEN SOURCE REPORTING SOLUTION

2005-09-13T23:40:00.000-04:00

Presented by Adam Williams

The link to Adam’s OR presentation slides:
To be posted soon…
http://kalamazoolinux.org/presentations/

"Reports, creating them, running them, distributing them - are the
bane of every developers, users, and administrators existence. But
people LOVE their reports. "

Adam Williams gave us a look at Open Source Open Reports. He
passed around a sample report to show what level of output can
be generated from a variety of database sources. We heard about
application installation and the associated programs, Tomcat and
Apache. Next we saw how you build a report and what options
are available. The print job scheduler sounds cool.

"Many commercial solutions exist to try and ease the agony of report
creation and management; most famously (or notoriously) is "Crystal
Reports." Crystal Reports XI Standard Edition Full Product (English)
costs $195. http://www.businessobjects.com/solutions/crystalreports/

"Open Reports is the Open Source answer to reporting. Using the
renowned Jasper reports format and libraries Open Reports provides
a power report server that runs reports on the server side, while
letting you develop reports in a client-side GUI assemble-it manner.
And not just any reports, but beautiful and colorful reports."

"Open Reports is a Java server combined with Tomcat and Apache.
iReport is a Java GUI application for building simple or very
sophisticated reports."

"Output can be delivered right to a user's browser window as PDF, to
their desktop as XLS, or as plain old CSV - all from the same report.
Access to reports can be restricted (on the server!) to certain users
and groups - and just for kicks a powerful scheduler is built in too."

Take a Look at the Open Reports Web Site:

http://oreports.com/
- and -
http://sourceforge.net/projects/oreports

(20 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-09-13T22:55:00.000-04:00

Open Source, Open Reports presented by Adam Williams!

2005-09-13T22:48:00.000-04:00

Waiting for the KLUG Chairperson John Bridleman to begin the introduction...

2005-09-13T22:40:00.000-04:00

Open Source Web Reporting

KLUG MONTHLY GENERAL ASSISTANCE MEETING

2005-09-06T23:53:00.000-04:00

Hosted by KLUG Chairperson John Bridleman

John opened tonight's meeting. He caught the KLUG attendees up
on several planned KLUG presentations and other upcoming KLUG
events.

Tonight there was one request for install help. That request
was made at 11:45am today! Andrew Thompson, KLUG’s sharp
and patient installmaster, does not see his e-mail for the
24 hour period prior to the meeting. The guidelines say that
the requests for help need to be made at least 7 days prior to
the assistance meeting.

Ted Whitman needed a little help with configuring his SuSE
9.3 networking. It could not see other Linux or Windows
computers on the network and they couldn’t see the SuSE 9.3
box. He had internet connectivity and all other functions
working well. He was just not able to browse the local
network with this machine. Andrew spoke with Ted about
this issue and learned that it had already been resolved.
That left plenty of time to talk about the configuration of
Ted’s business computer network.

Jon Smitley and Stu Gillis were test driving the Open Source
AMPardy (based on Jeopardy) code that will be used at this
year’s annual KLUG Geek Jeopardy celebration. Jon connected
his new Apple PowerBook directly to Stu’s Intel-based laptop
and they were both displaying the AMPardy screen. Then they
tested the PowerBook video output with the InFocus KLUG
SVGA projector.

Tyler was helping Alan Tanner with a problem that involved
recovery of Linux on a dual booting laptop. There was plenty
of advice being considered limited only by the resources at
hand. After verification that the partition was still intact,
Tyler tried to get a valid RJ45 network connection path out
to the internet and was stymied.

Dirk Bartley was seen welcoming some attendees that had not
been to a meeting in some time. The group was deep into
discussing networking strategies and explaining current best
practices.

This meeting is intended for those who are just curious
about Linux and Open Source software, who need some
help getting started, or want some extra eyes to look at
your advanced problem. You can also bring your computer
in order to have Linux installed on it, at no charge; or
to try a Linux distribution that boots from CD and requires
no change to your system's current software. Make sure
you arrange to get the software you want ahead of time.

If you would like assistance with a specific problem please
e-mail a description to installmaster@kalamazoolinux.org,
so we can be sure someone familiar with your issue will be
available to assist you.

If you would like to install Linux on a system, or you
need help with Linux, please fill out a Help Request so
that someone can research your hardware/software, etc...
http://kalamazoolinux.org/meetings/installmeeting.php
Installations and assistance are done by appointment
ONLY. You must fill out the appropriate form one week
prior to the meeting. If you only have general questions
or curiosity you don't need to do anything but show up!

(16 Linux Enthusiasts Attending)

2005-09-06T23:48:00.000-04:00

KLUG Chairperson John Bridleman Opened the September General Assistance Meeting